TO INTERNATIONAL PROMINENCE WITH THE DISTINCTLY ORIGINAL STYLE

Open for the first 22 days of December, the Helsinki Christmas Market managed to attract a huge crowd to the city centre’s Senate Square to spend time together with food, plenty of events and its popular sauna. The international media highlighted Helsinki as one of the most interesting holiday season destinations, with the Helsinki Christmas Market as a top attraction.

The Helsinki Christmas Market truly embodied the idea of Christmas as a celebration of togetherness. Experiences such as the pop-in sauna, high quality food and a programme stage enticed Helsinkians and visitors in great masses to enjoy the atmosphere of the Senate Square.

”The market has been especially praised for granting a space for spending precious moments, as well as the magnificent food and handicraft offering”, Executive Producer Emma Lumme explains.

Helsinki-dwellers have adopted the Central European habit of spending time with friends and family at Christmas markets. More and more visitors tend to visit the Helsinki Christmas Market several times in December and many find the market a personal tradition. The adjacent Torikorttelit blocks enchanted many with their beauty and ambiance.

The Christmas sauna located at the market was visited by almost 800 people from 40 different countries. They basked in the gentle steam provided by Juttusauna. Sauna-goers included first-timers from the United States and Italy, families visiting the city for a short lay-over, and groups from the Slush start-up festival held in Helsinki in December.

The Helsingin Leijona development company has been in charge of developing the Torikorttelit project and has produced the Christmas Market with a strong focus on progress since 2014. There was a clear aim to make the Helsinki Christmas Market one of the most interesting holiday markets of Europe, with much respect given to specific local traditions old and new. At the same time, the whole Christmas season in Helsinki deserves even more boost as there is still plenty of unharnessed potential in the wintertime. In the future, the oldest, largest and most beautiful Christmas market in the city will be the responsibility of the new event management office of the City of Helsinki, which also organises other official city events.